September 2006

14th September 2006

12:00 AM — Gay clubs across the south are queuing up to get hold of drink anti-spiking devices after a nightclub in Brighton became the first to offer the protection last month.PinkNews.co.uk reported in August that Revenge nightclub, which is the biggest gay venue on the south coast, was to offer its customers drink protection after a nasty increase in drink-spiking incidents was reported by venues in the area.

12:00 AM — Sarah Waters, who brought lesbian fiction to greater prominence with her novel Tipping The Velvet, is on the short list for this year's Man Booker prize, it has been announced.Waters, 40, has been nominated for her most recent work, The Night Watch, which explores the lives of several lesbian, gay and straight characters in 1940's London.

12:00 AM — Gay legal group Lambda Legal has filed a complaint with the Orlando Human Rights Board this week on behalf of a gay man denied fertility services because of his sexual orientation."Dr. Barros was denied services not because of any real medical risk, but solely because of his sexual orientation," said, Gregory Nevins, a lawyer in Lambda Legal's southern regional office in Atlanta.

12:00 AM — South Africa's Civil Union Bill has drawn yet more criticism ahead of a hearing on the law next week.Committee members of the Department of Home Affairs, in charge of drafting the legislation, have raised concerns that not enough organisations were consulted about the bill.

12:00 AM — Tyron Garner, one of two men whose 1998 arrests led to a US Supreme Court decision that struck down bans on sodomy, has died, according to a spokesman for the legal firm that represented him.According to the Associated Press, Garner died early on Monday at a Houston hospital.

12:00 AM — Canada's conservative government could introduce legislative changes to enhance protections for those who oppose same-sex marriage on religious or moral grounds if Members of Parliament don't pass a motion to re-open the contentious debate.According to The Calgary Sun, the motion, which stems from an election pledge by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is expected to give MPs a clear-cut question on whether or not Parliament should revisit the issue—not poll the moral stand of each MP on gay marriage.

12:00 AM — One of China's major cities risks facing an AIDS epidemic reminiscent of San Francisco 25 years ago if authorities do not act, a study warns.British Sociological Association member, Jennifer Chapman, will argue that gay men in Shenzhen require a better understanding of sexual health, at the organisation's Medical Sociology Group Annual Conference in Edinburgh which starts today.

13th September 2006

12:00 AM — The Scottish Parliament has given its backing to a new law allowing gay couples to adopt.Despite calls from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland to oppose the bill, MSPs backed the principles of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill by 103 votes to eight, with eight abstentions, potentially giving unmarried couples and gay partners the right to adopt children.

12:00 AM — Brighton and Hove Albion football club is launching a campaign against homophobia as a result of an increase in anti-gay chants at matches.The club, nicknamed The Seagulls, says that it is receiving more and more complaints about the verbal abuse, which is aimed at fans due to Brighton's reputation as a 'gay city'.

12:00 AM — Gay groups have expressed concern at a controversial Christian pastor who is currently touring the country holding debates on Christianity and sexual ethics.Pentecost Ake Green was convicted of hate crimes in 2004 after referring to gay people as a tumour on society in a sermon in Kalmar, Sweden, he was later acquitted but is now drawing criticism for a series of talks with Evangelical charity The Christian Institute.

12:00 AM — A gay man who was suspended from a food manufacturing company after complaining about homophobic and pornographic graffiti has won a claim of constructive dismissal against his former employer.Chris Martin, a quality assurance assistant at Parkam Foods, a national poultry supplier, complained to his managers in May 2005 after finding offensive pornographic graffiti in the men's toilets, in what his lawyers are calling just one of a number of complaints against the company based on sexual harassment and discrimination laws.

12:00 AM — Radio1 DJ Chris Moyles and former Muslim Council of Britain leader Sir Iqbal Sacranie will fight it out for Bully of the Year after being nominated for a Stonewall Award today.Nominees were announced this afternoon for the 2006 ceremony which includes awards recognising the contribution to the gay community of politicians, entertainers and employers as well as bullies and heroes.

12:00 AM — PinkNews.co.uk has been shortlisted as Publication of the Year in the Stonewall Awards.Nominees were announced today for the 2006 ceremony which includes awards recognising the contribution to the gay community of broadcasters, writers and publications such as PinkNews.co.uk which is the only lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) news service shortlisted along with lesbian magazine Diva, The Economist, Guardian Unlimited, and The Independent.

12:00 AM — A national parenting support charity is to open lesbian only ante-natal classes for Bradford mums-to-be.The initiative, led by Sarah Williams, a National Childbirth Trust (NCT) ante-natal teacher is a first in this country and may soon reach the rest of the UK.

12:00 AM — New Zealand's Presbyterian Church has criticised a gay hate campaign amid a ruling by the denomination on homosexual clergy.Stickers have been sent to members of the Presbyterian Assembly with the phrase "gays are a cancer in our church, let's keep them out of leadership," as they prepare to vote later this month on whether to allow gay ministers in the church.

12:00 AM — Former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, who resigned from office two years ago after announcing he was gay, is set to tell his story on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."According to The Associated Press, Winfrey landed the exclusive interview with the 49-year-old because of her sense of faith and spirituality, according to friends of the former governor.

12:00 AM — Chelsea and Englander defender Ashley Cole has spoken openly for the first time about tabloid allegations earlier this year that he is gay.The footballer says the "ugly episode" got under his skin in his book Ashley Cole: My Defence, which is being serialised by The Times this week.

12th September 2006

12:00 AM — Gay businesses, bars, clubs and community centres in the popular area of Soho are to be encouraged and improved under a public consultation by Westminster City Council aimed at regenerating the area for its diverse communities.The Soho Action Plan was launched today and seeks public views on how the West End, which includes popular gay areas such as Old Compton Street and Soho Square, can serve its visitors better.

12:00 AM — Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) the world's largest trade union of nurses - have appointed a gay man to one of its most influential posts for the first time.Jason Warriner, a sexual health nurse from London, has been elected to serve as chairman of the RCN's annual Congress, where thousands of nurses gather to debate the future policies of the organisation.

12:00 AM — A man who was jailed for murdering a gay singer in 1992 escaped from jail two months ago, it has been revealed this week.Gay groups are outraged that it has taken Gwent Police so long to inform them that Lee Dewhurst had failed to return to Prescoed open prison in South Wales where he was serving a life sentence for the murder of Stephen O'Hara.

PinkNews covers religion, politics, entertainment, finance, and community news for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the UK and worldwide. Founded to produce broadsheet quality journalism for the LGBT community, we cover politics to theology in an intelligent manner.